1. Field of the Invention
This invention generally relates to an apparatus for the protection of vehicles. In particular, the present invention relates to an apparatus for the protection of vehicle bodies from damage due to impact. More particularly, the present invention relates to a automobile body guard system for the protection of vehicles from damage due to impacts from adjacent automobile doors, shopping carts, or other vehicles or moving objects which could scratch, damage, or otherwise mar the finish, paint, or metal of the protected vehicle.
2. Prior Art
Various attempts have been made to protect the doors and side panels of a vehicle from being dented, dinged, or nicked when persons carelessly open the doors of adjacent vehicles and allow the edges to strike the door or side panel of the subject vehicle. The most simplistic of these attempts includes new car manufacturers and/or automobile dealers attaching protective molding along the sides and door panels of vehicles to prevent nicks or small dents on the larger exposed areas of the same. While these side molding strips offer some degree of protection, they are normally quite narrow and generally extend less than one inch outward from the surface of the side or door panel. Further, the variety of shapes, heights and sizes of doors for various vehicles do not necessarily correspond, and therefore oftentimes the positioning of these protective moldings fails to stop the contact.
Numerous other prior art attempts, including retractable side guard protectors or bumpers, have also been made. For example, Hertzell, U.S. Pat. No. 3,718,357, relates to a retractable side bumper guard assembly attached to the underside of the vehicle and extended using hydraulics. The Hertzell apparatus essentially comprises a hinged baseboard extendable on two hydraulic actuated arms from underneath the vehicle that once extended pivot about its hinges to protect the lower surface of the door frame. Hertzell fails to provide any protection to the upper portion of the doors or quarter panels that need it most, and that on most vehicles, tend to extend outwardly the furthest, thereby making them more vulnerable to dings and dents. In addition, many modern vans, sport utility vehicles (SUVs) and four-wheel drive vehicles are substantially higher than the average passenger sedan or coupe, and therefore the doors of such taller vehicles would clear the top edge of such a design, and therefore could damage the door or side panels of a typical passenger vehicle.
Egelske, U.S. Pat. No. 5,518,283, relates to a protective assembly comprising an elongated bar rotatably mounted within the wheel wells and driven by both a mechanical and an electrical connection to the vehicle's drive shaft. Egelske, however, suffers from several shortcomings. First, Egelske provides protection only for that portion of the vehicle that lies between the innermost edges of the vehicle's wheel wells. Second, the apparatus of Egelske may serve as a potential operational hazard to the vehicle as a threat to the vehicle's tires integrity during radical maneuvering or to the drive system of the vehicle through its direct connection thereto. Furthermore, each of the designs referenced above are likely to cause interference with the jack points on a typical modern vehicle, which are often located just inside of the front and rear tire wells.